No sign of end to PotashCorp strike - company

14 October 2008 21:46  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--A labour strike affecting three of PotashCorp’s plants for more than two months continued on Tuesday, with no talks scheduled with the United Steelworkers union (USW), a company spokesperson said.

“No talks are scheduled, but the lines of communication certainly remain open,” Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PotashCorp) spokesperson Tom Pasztor said.

Since 7 August, some 500 workers at the company’s 2m tonne/year plant in Allan, 800,000 tonne/year plant in Cory and 300,000 tonne/year plant in Patience Lake have been on strike over wage disputes. The Cory and Patience Lake sites were shut down as a direct result of the strike, and management workers have been pooled together from the three facilities to operate the Allan plant at half capacity.

The union approached the company formally about reopening discussions last week, but PotashCorp officials were unwilling to meet unless USW disregarded its commodity-related bonus scheme. When the union refused, claiming such an agreement would violate free and open bargaining, the company said it would not resume talks.

For more on PotashCorp’s plants, visit ICIS plants and projects
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By: David Rosen
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